The present invention relates to a remote control system for use with a scanning electron microscope(SEM) to adjust aperture and gun alignment.
In the past, scanning electron microscopes have used manual knob controls for adjusting the gun alignment as well as the aperture. Typically, electron microscopes disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,864,138; 5,510,615 and 5,455,420 show manual knobs for adjustment mechanisms on electron microscopes. The European Patent No. 0510618A1 of Oct. 28, 1992, provides a remote control system for moving samples and also means for preventing leakage of x-rays and other radiation, but does not provide a remote system which can be attached directly to a manual control for operating remotely.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,966 shows a system for remote controlling of a sighting mechanism in an optical system. The motor control mechanism is built into the system. In general, remote control mechanisms are used in optical systems of various types such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,694. The problem of adapting typical electron microscopes with manual systems so that they can be remotely controlled is not shown in the art.
It is an object of this invention to provide an electron microscope remote control system for the gun alignment and aperture which requires no internal modification of the typical Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM).
Another object of this invention is to provide remote control equipment for a SEM which is added to the exterior of the SEM so as to avoid any leakage of any radiation which might be caused by structural modifications of the SEM.
A further object of this invention is to provide a remote control for an electron microscope aperture and gun alignment which provides a high degree of safety and which can accomplish coarse or fine adjustment at a remote station.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a remote control mechanism for the gun alignment and aperture which provides minimum backlash and allows for misalignment during adjustment.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide individual readouts for each adjustment motor and selection for each motor individually as well as means for controlling the speed of each motor adjustment means.
Still a further object of this invention is to provide a display and control panel for the remote system for the gun alignment and aperture which allows the operator to quickly make adjustment changes.
Another object of this invention is to provide a remote control system for the gun alignment and aperture that may be easily applied to a standard manual system of an electron microscope as well as easily removed therefrom as desired.
In summary, this invention relates to a remote control system for the gun alignment and aperture, which through gear motors coupled to the SEM manual control knobs, readily permits remote adjustments as necessary. This can be used on any commercially available SEM that adjusts the aperture and gun alignment in this manner.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description including the following drawings which are identified as follows: